The captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor, resulting in the death of a woman and her infant daughter, has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the federal agency saying it intends to deport him.
The deadly incident unfolded near the Statue of Liberty on 8 August. Authorities said a 911 call was received at approximately 10.25pm that prompted a major emergency response including multiple boat teams, a scuba team and a helicopter unit.
The two victims were named by the New York police department (NYPD) as 27-year-old Sara Sanchez and her five-month-old daughter, Antonella, who were pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The boat’s operator, 46-year-old Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana, faces a host of federal charges related to the incident.
New York authorities have charged him with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency of ICE, announced that the investigation into the incident by the US Coast Guard revealed Hernandez to be in the country illegally, and that the agency would work to deport him from the US following the criminal case.
The federal authorities said Hernandez is from El Salvador and previously lied to a border patrol officer after crossing from Mexico into Texas in 2007, falsely claiming that he was a US citizen.
“Once he faces justice for his crimes, we will make sure that he is swiftly removed from our country,” the DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said in a statement.
Hernandez’s arrest came as the Trump administration ramps up its wider immigration crackdown.
In recent months, federal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants on streets across New York and New Jersey that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries. In total, the Trump administration has deported more than 590,600 people since January 2025, according to numbers released last month.
